A “Niche Riche” Art Clubhouse Opens

Annie Armstrong here. The Venice Biennale opens next week, and all of the art world is gearing up for an action-packed time in The Most Serene Republic. I wonder how many of them are packing protein bars, as the food in Venice is notoriously not on par with the rest of Italy. 

I asked around my network of jetset art types to find out where to get an actually good meal in town. Antiche Carampane, answered Cecilia Alemani, who curated the biennale in 2022. Caffè Florian, answered another curator, Klaus Biesenbach. Dealer (and former restaurateur) Gavin Brown gatekept his favorite restaurant in Venice, saying that he’d “never” tell me. “Anyway,” he said. “There are not unknown restaurants in Venice.”

But enough about Italy. Let’s take a look at what’s happening around New York.

In this letter: A look inside the over-the-top art world hangout Gosh, the price to rent out three floors of the Russian Tea Room (and the non-profit able to pony up), and Bar Chimera’s secret weapon for their famous martini.

Around Town continues behind the paywall…